Milk Marque slashes standard milk price
By FWi Staff
DAIRY farmers who sell milk to Milk Marque face an average £11,000 cut in their annual income after the company announced that it is cutting the price it pays for milk.
From April 1, Milk Marque will pay just 18.2p for a standard litre, a company spokesman confirmed. That represents a 1.8ppl cut in the milk price or an £11,700 drop in income for the average dairy farm of 100 cows.
The company blames the strength of Sterling and a drop in demand for dairy products such as butter and skimmed milk powder. David Yeomans, Milk Marque chief executive, acknowledged that the price cut is likely to be “devastating”.
In an attempt to soften the blow, Milk Marque has also adjusted its seasonality payments to “help members cash flow”. The new seasonality payments, which also come into effect on April 1, are as follows:
| Seasonality payment (ppl) | New | Old |
|---|---|---|
| April | -1.5 | -2.0 |
| May | -2.2 | -3.0 |
| June | -1.1 | -1.5 |
| July | +2.6 | +3.5 |
| August | +2.2 | +3.0 |
| September | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| October 1998-March 1999 | nil | nil |
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Click here for October-December 1997 reports